The prior art is aware of the activity blocks, and methods of making same, such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 91,234 and 274,668 and 2,873,976. Also, the prior art is aware of providing activity blocks of the domino and alphabet types, but these blocks are commonly provided in the form of a single solid block having the dots formed in the face thereof, for the domino activity, or having readable indicia on the face thereof, such as lettering or numbers or the like.
However, in the instances of the prior art, the activity blocks are expensive to manufacture and require special molds and dyes, or they are tooled or machine cut, such as the common standard blocks made of wood. In those prior art instances, the blocks are not of any close consistency in overall size and in configuration and in general aesthetic qualities. Further, the blocks of the prior art do not lend themselves to the versatility of readily selecting and even readily changing the message or indicia of the blocks, such as the appearance of numbers or letters or even the coloring of the eyes of the domino-type block.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide an activity block which improves upon the prior art blocks, and wherein the block of the present invention specifically overcomes the limitations mentioned with regard to the prior art. In accomplishing these objectives, the block of the present invention is one which can be provided with a significant degree of consistency to have uniformity among the blocks in a set of blocks and to still have the blocks inexpensively but sturdily manufactured. Specifically, the block of this invention can be made of plastic material, and the blocks can be readily and easily assembled by simply snapping a body piece and a backing piece into an assembled position.
Still further, the present invention provides a means for presenting visible indicia on an activity block but without requiring any careful attention of hand tooling or decorating, as in the prior art, and the block of the present invention can provide the desirable visible indicia in an expedient and variable and readily provided manner. Further, in accomplishing the aforementioned objectives, the block of the present invention lends itself to changes in the visible indicia in each block. Accordingly, the activity block of this invention is arranged to provide a two-color type of block, but the multicolor appearance is achieved by simply utilizing a sheet, such as a piece of paper, having either a solid color or lettering or numbers thereon, and with the sheet being visible through a window in the body of the block.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.